


What to expect when dating a Shadowhunter: a guide by Magnus Bane

by Falazure



Series: Magnus Bane Birthday Month [2]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alec Lightwood Loves Magnus Bane, Boys In Love, Courting Rituals, Cultural Differences, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Magnus Bane Deserves Nice Things, SH's are just fucking Weird okay lmao, mentions of Immortal Alec Lightwood, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:07:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28014426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Falazure/pseuds/Falazure
Summary: Magnus had known dating a Shadowhunter would be different, he perhaps hadn't been prepared for how different.
Relationships: Magnus Bane & Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane & Catarina Loss, Magnus Bane & Raphael Santiago, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood
Series: Magnus Bane Birthday Month [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2043481
Comments: 28
Kudos: 327





	What to expect when dating a Shadowhunter: a guide by Magnus Bane

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing.
> 
> I know the show doesn’t posit the notion that Shadowhunters have courting rituals of any sort, but I like that kind of thing as a concept, as well as humorous misunderstandings, and wanted to play around with the idea because it’s my fanfic and I can do what I want.

* * *

Magnus had known that dating a Shadowhunter would be different, he’d figured that the odd hours they kept alone would take some getting used to, even if he didn’t quite keep normal hours himself. The side-effects of being not-quite human he supposed. But still he was hardly one to sleep for 2 hours, go on a 6 hour mission and then sleep another 4 hours before waking up again, that particular habit seemed to be entirely in their ballpark. So he expected his sleep schedule to perhaps get knocked around a bit.

He hadn’t entirely anticipated just how strange their personal experiences were however.

An increased affinity with demon ichor and angelic weapons was a given, Alec honestly expecting a night out at a movie theatre to be night-patrol practice was not. Although it had admittedly been funny to witness Alec’s complete and utter bafflement at the concept of sitting in the dark watching a screen for 3 hours instead of skulking around looking for demons.

He’d also been somewhat dumbfounded by the knowledge that Alec not only looked forward to the prospect of Magnus going on missions with him, he also _wanted_ him there.

“ _You’d want me to come with you?”_

“ _Of course, there’s no one better to watch my back.”_

Magnus was still figuring out how to process Alec’s words, giddy elation, slight worry at the prospect of genuine injuries, and a deep warm happiness that if Magnus let get out of hand would no doubt take over his entire heart.

He was good at keeping his expectations in check however and otherwise put it out of his mind.

So he’d been a little taken aback one day when Alec had arrived at his loft after a late-night mission with Isabelle, his boyfriend almost bouncing on his toes with anticipation? Excitement? Magnus wasn’t sure but he waved him in all the same as he sat on the couch, book in hand.

It was late but Magnus hadn’t felt ready to sleep yet, too wired after a day of near non-stop portal-hopping to chase down an elusive client.

“Hey Magnus.” Alec greeted as he got closer, his excitement almost palpable in the room, he looked eerily similar to when Alec had bought him that Omamori charm when they’d gone to Japan.

“Hello Alexander.” Magnus shut his book and readjusted his robe, sliding his legs off the couch as he expected Alec to join him. He frowned up at his boyfriend when Alec stayed standing. “Is everything alright?” Magnus asked, it hadn’t seemed like anything was wrong, but perhaps something had happened on his hunt? Maybe Isabelle had gotten _hurt_?

A small huff made him look up into Alec’s amused and adoring expression and Magnus only scowled a little where he sat.

“Everything's fine just.” Alec squared his shoulders, as if he was about to face down a demon, stepped forwards and thrust a small bundle at Magnus. “Here.” He stated, as if that made everything clear and Magnus shuffled forwards, perplexed but he took the bundle all the same.

Alec looked on encouragingly as Magnus flipped the bundle over, noting the ties holding the cloth in place and he pulled at it, unwinding the fabric until a small, beautifully decorated dagger sat uncovered at the centre of it. He could only see the hilt and sheath but he could tell it was exquisite, small studs of silver elegantly dotted along the leather in a way that accentuated the delicate craftsmanship.

Magnus wasn’t much of a weapons connoisseur but he could appreciate the artistry of this nonetheless.

“This is a very beautiful dagger.” Magnus commented, picking up the weapon in question and studying it a little closer, while it was clear it wasn’t Adamas he also wasn’t entirely keen on unsheathing it on the couch while he was in his pyjamas.

“I’m glad you like it, it’s for you.” Magnus blinked up at Alec, a confused frown tugging at his brows and he almost pointed out that he hardly needed weapons with his magic, but Alec looked so genuinely proud of himself Magnus felt the words die on his tongue.

“I… Thank you?” He said instead, a bemused smile pulling at his own lips as Alec practically puffed his chest out, radiating such satisfaction that Magnus felt it was better not to pry. His boyfriend normally did very well with gifts, but perhaps this time his Shadowhunter brain had overrided the regular boyfriend part.

Either way Magnus could appreciate the gesture.

\----

Magnus had honestly forgotten about the unusual gift after a few weeks and more regular presents from Alec, a night-out at the local theatre, a late night movie: this time without an impromptu night-patrol test, and a personal back-massage that still made Magnus’ toes curl when he thought about it.

So he’d been more than a little caught off-guard when he’d returned home one afternoon to find Alec, and a selection of his jackets strewn about on the armchairs and couch of his living room. Magnus paused in the threshold to the room, blinking once, looking to the left and right, before settling on Alec again, not entirely sure if this was his boyfriend in front of him.

“Alexander?” Magnus stepped somewhat hesitantly towards him, arms raised just in case he needed to cast some magic.

“Do you realise how poorly armoured your coats are?” Magnus’ arms dropped and he stood up straight.

“What?” He asked, utterly perplexed, he was pretty sure he hadn’t wandered into any dimensional portals on his way home.

“If you get caught by a demon it’ll tear right through these.” Alec stated, holding one of Magnus’ jackets up, the one with the rhinestones on the shoulders, Magnus loved that jacket, and pulling out the arm of it to presumably showcase how inadequate the material was. “And if you hit a wall there isn’t enough padding to protect you.” Alec had dropped the arm and was now twisting and turning the jacket over in his hands.

“Curiously that’s never been a concern of mine when buying coats.” Alec pulled a face at that. “I’m more of a fashion over comfort man.” He added, moving up towards Alec and surveying the true extent of his wardrobe evisceration.

“Oh I’m _distinctly_ aware of that.” Alec replied, almost dreamily and Magnus huffed a laugh. He should be more bothered by this than he was, Alec had gone through his closet after all, but if anything he was more quietly amused.

“My apologies that my need to look good offends your warrior sensibilities.” Alec’s lips quirked at that and he gently put the jacket down on top of a pile of others on the couch.

“They’re not good enough.” Alec stated simply, reaching down to grab a relatively plain looking coat and handing to Magnus. “This is.” Magnus regarded Alec before looking at the item hovering in front of him, grasping it with both hands and holding it out.

It was certainly heavier than any of his other jackets, the material feeling bulkier than what he normally wore, clearly padded and reinforced to protect those who made a living off of hunting demons. It was also horribly ugly, nothing more than a plain-black long-coat that had no flare or design he’d ever touch with a 10 foot pole.

His distaste was clear from the amused smile Alec was giving him. “I know it’s not your aesthetic, but it’s study and it’ll keep you safe.” Magnus didn’t want to whine or act like a child… but it was also _hideous_ and not something he’d ever want to wear out of the house, injuries be damned.

“I appreciate the gesture-”

“It’s also enchanted so that you can alter it into any design you want.” Alec added and that caught Magnus’ attention, Nephilim magic was a tricky beast at the best of times, often it fought back against his meddling, but if he could have free reign with this jacket, well. Perhaps it wasn’t so bad.

“All that fiddling just for me?” Magnus teased, stepping closer, the jacket the only thing between them.

“I just want you to be safe.” Alec’s voice was so soft, his gaze so earnest and Magnus could feel himself melting into a puddle, his breath hitching in his throat as he stared up at this honest, utterly foolish man.

“Well, it’s not so bad then.” Magnus quipped, forcing himself to sound more calm than he felt, and resolutely ignoring the hammering of his heart.

It was _just_ a jacket.

\----

It wasn’t until they had both stumbled into his loft one morning, finished with a night-patrol and _desperately_ needing sleep, when Magnus had begun to suspect that he was perhaps missing something important.

Magnus had been alive for centuries, had seen cities rise and fall, seen humans go to war over and over again.

He didn’t however have the best knowledge about Shadowhunter customs himself, if anything he’d largely gotten his information from Downworlder friends who spent time with them and believed what they told him.

So he didn’t really know what to look for when it came to rituals between lovers.

But after Alec had staggered towards him in the living room, blood on his clothes, dry lips pressing gentle kisses into his skin, and slightly shaky hands holding out a rather large tooth to him, Magnus realised that there was probably a conversation going on that only one of them was keyed into.

He hadn’t done anything less than accept Alec’s offering, watching in confusion as Alec stumbled half-awake into the bedroom and had presumably collapsed into a several hour nap.

Magnus had retreated into his study after that, completely exhausted but too wired to sleep. He stared down into the tooth in his hands, turning it over this way and that. It looked old, certainly not a current trophy, and it wasn’t from any kind of demon that held magical uses after their death. It was just an ordinary demon-tooth and Alec had presented it to him with a gentle smile and hesitant eyes.

Magnus swallowed and carefully set the tooth down on a specifically summoned-in display mantle, if he was correct about the significance of this gift he wasn’t going to treat it with anything less than reverent care.

Rising from his seat he quietly made his way to the bedroom, noting that Alec had at least managed to shower and get undressed before he’d slumped under the covers. Magnus sighed, quickly and quietly divesting himself of his own clothes as he moved towards the bed. He really should sleep too.

He kept the curtains closed and walked around to his side and gingerly climbed up onto the bed, settling next to Alec and watching the steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Magnus picked absent-mindedly at his nails as he watched him, chewing at his lower lip as a nervous pit opened up in his stomach. He always had trouble accepting the full brunt of someone’s affections and Magnus could admit that he was worried that perhaps he was misinterpreting things, overthinking them and seeing something that wasn’t there.

He was so caught up he hadn’t realised Alec had woken up until his boyfriend made a small noise and dazed hazel eyes looked up at him.

“Magnus, why are you awake?” Alec murmured, one had moving up to rub at his eyes. “Is something wrong?” He asked as he pushed himself up and Magnus’ hands fluttered about his shoulders as he tried to push him back down. He hadn’t meant to disturb him.

“No, no, everything’s fine I just...” He swallowed and frowned, not sure how to even broach what he wanted to say.

“You just what?” Alec asked, looking at Magnus from where he was sat propped-up against the headboard.

“That tooth you brought me?” Magnus ventured, waving his hand out like Alec should elaborate and not missing the way Alec’s expression smoothed out as he seemed to understand what Magnus was asking.

“It’s the tooth from the first demon I killed.” And Magnus might not know much about Shadowhunter customs, but he knew the significance of something like _that_.

Alec pulled him closer, his face open, sure and so unflinchingly certain. “I wanted you to have it.” He added, like it was no big deal and Magnus shuffled closer, moving a hand to twine with one of Alec’s as his boyfriend tugged him down and under the covers.

“Thank you Alexander.” Magnus breathed and the smile he got in return was blinding.

\----

For all that Magnus was pretty sure he knew what was going on, he also wanted to double, maybe even triple check. The problem was that he didn’t really know many Downworlders who willingly spent significant amounts of time with Shadowhunters, and Luke was out of town dealing with a rival pack issue, so Magnus could hardly go and pick his brains.

He had sent the man a text, but Magnus knew Luke, he would probably read it two days after he got back and Magnus really needed answers now.

Which was why he had set-up an impromptu dinner with Raphael and Cat.

Oh sure he wasn’t solely doing it for his own gain, they had a monthly dinner-night on their schedules, but if Magnus had happened to call this one a few days early? Well, that was for him to know.

He didn’t get to the point immediately, happy to indulge in the company of his closest friend and the man he’d taken in, but as they’d sat, nursing their after-dinner coffees Magnus had felt it was the right opportunity to try and get some answers.

“You dated Isabelle for a short time?” It wasn’t an even slightly graceful segue but Magnus held firm and didn’t betray any embarrassment, even if Cat was looking at him like he had three heads.

“Yes?” Raphael to his credit only looked mildly confused.

“Did she ever tried to give you a dagger?” Both of them blinked at him at that.

“No?” Internally Magnus deflated a little, he wasn’t going to get any help here either it seemed, but Raphael looked thoughtful for a moment. “But she did gift me a battleaxe once.” He added, his brows pulling into a frown like he was only just realising something.

“Please tell me you didn’t accept it.” Cat laughed, looking more than a little boggled and Raphael shrugged,

“I thought it was a family heirloom so I figured it’d be rude to refuse.” Cat covered her mouth with one hand but it did little to stifle her giggles, Raphael only glared at her.

“What did you do with it?” Magnus asked, genuinely curious if somewhat amused himself.

“I put it on display over my fireplace...” Raphael tapped his fingers against his drink. “Come to think of it she _did_ look disappointed when she saw that.” Cat’s giggles had turned into undignified snorts.

“What does that even mean?” She asked, wiping at her eyes as she shook her head.

“I think Nephilim might have courting rituals?” Magnus offered and that made them both blink at him, Cat looked skeptical while Raphael nodded in agreement.

“Has Alec given you something similar?” He asked, leaning forwards in his seat and Magnus nodded.

“A dagger, beautifully crafted by the way, reinforced coats, and two days ago he gave me the trophy from his first demon kill.” They both stared at him and Cat let out a whistle of breath, her eyebrows high up her forehead.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Magnus hummed in agreement, sharing their surprise. Shadowhunters were such a stodgy, emotionless lot most of the time it was hard imagining their kind having rituals outside of death and sacrifice, yet here was the evidence that they did have romantic hearts deep down. Not that Magnus had doubted Alec’s, but he’d thought he’d maybe gotten a bit of an outlier in that case.

Hell Magnus still figured Alec was an outlier anyway, he’d seen some of their kinds unfortunate flirting attempts in person.

“So, are you supposed to do something in return?” And that caught Magnus off-guard, he’d been so delighted in finding out a particularly fun piece of information he hadn’t really considered if he was supposed to reciprocate.

“I… Don’t know.” He replied, his fingers hovering over the handle to his mug as he stared down at the table, as if that would suddenly yield answers.

“Well, it looks like you’ve got some research on your hands.” Magnus could only nod at that, a little dazed, but also a lot excited.

He couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his lips.

\----

He’d tried looking through books after that, even going so far as to ask Isabelle permission to check the Institute library, she’d looked a little confused at the request but had happily let him in, but that hadn’t yielded much. Instead he’d found out about two more death rituals and it only cemented Magnus’ opinion that Shadowhunters really needed to lighten up.

Ultimately Magnus realised that if he wanted an answer he should go directly to the source and actually _ask_ Alec. It wasn’t as if his boyfriend would run away and refuse to talk.

With that in mind he’d made sure his client list was light for a day, busying himself with translation work as he patiently waited for Alec to come home for the evening, his schedule was less hectic as the head of the Institute, but he still had to work late some days, thankfully today was not one of those days.

It had barely passed 7 when Magnus heard the front door open and close, steady footsteps getting closer and closer until Alec’s head popped around the corner of his apothecary door and a bright, happy smile spread across his face.

“Light day?” He inquired as he stepped into the room and Magnus let himself appreciate the dark suit adorning his boyfriend, he’d enjoyed the sight this morning too, but Magnus was allowed to indulge.

“Nice and relaxing for a change yes.” He replied as Alec stepped up to him, humming into the kiss pressed against his mouth. Alec pulled back after a moment, his eyes briefly scanning the text on the pages in front of Magnus.

“Good.” He fidgeted for a moment and Magnus waited in anticipation until Alec pulled a tiny item from his pocket. “Here.” Magnus immediately put down his pen and took the offering, it looked like a letter-opener of all things and Magnus looked up at Alec, a little confused.

Alec only smiled a leaned a little closer. “It doubles as a weapon with a flick.” Alec explained and Magnus looked back down, giving the small dagger a flick and noted with some surprised how much sharper and glossy the blade now looked. He flicked it again and it went back to being dull and matt.

“How surprisingly pragmatic.” Alec looked pleased wit himself and Magnus grinned while setting down the letter-opener. He twiddled his thumbs for a moment, unsure how to start but ultimately decided to bite the bullet. “Alexander?”

Alec hummed in assent and fixed his gaze on him. “These gifts… are you, courting me?” He asked, watching as Alec’s smile became oh so gentle, like he was looking at the best thing in the universe and Magnus had to look away for a moment. He never quite knew what to do with the sheer force of Alec’s adoration.

“Yes.” And Magnus couldn’t help the wide-grin that spread across his face, the giddy elation that welled up in his chest. He was no stranger to the attention of suitors, but this kind of careful, planned gift-giving for the sake of a cultural ritual was… ego boosting in the best way.

He heard Alec shift beside him and looked up to see his face pulled into a carefully neutral expression. “I can stop if it bothers you.”

“No, no.” Magnus waved his hands and shook his head. “I’m not bothered, if anything I want to know if there’s something I should be doing in return?” Alec frowned at that.

“Like?” Magnus huffed.

“Giving you something too? Getting you, I don’t know, Basilisk eyes?” Magnus looked back at Alec when he laughed.

“You can get those?” Alec shook his head. “That doesn’t matter, the point is that you don’t need to do anything, I’m giving you these things because I want to and it matters to me.” He added with a shrug like it was that simple.

“But I _want_ to do something.” Magnus absolutely didn’t pout, Alec only smiled at him and leaned down for another kiss.

“Accepting them is doing something.” He said, as if that was a good rebuttal and Magnus only half-scowled at him. “Seriously Magnus, you accepting the gifts is all I need you to do, we started everything so off-kilter to how things are normally done so I’m just… catching up.”

“Your kind get your lovers weapons and armour?” Magnus asked, feeling a little less put out but not any less confused, even as Alec nodded.

“A gift of the hand, a gift of the body, a gift of skill, a gift of protection.” He reached down and tapped the letter opener at that. “And.. various others.” Alec ticked off his list on his fingers and then waved away the rest, that certainly explained his first four gifts at least, romantic as this ritual was Shadowhunters were still unerringly pragmatic in most things. But still, it was sweet.

“You’re not going to tell me the rest?” He asked, sliding a hand up against Alec’s side.

“No, they’re going to be a surprise.” Magnus only sighed a little, it wasn’t as if Alec had a terrible track-record with surprises, but still, it always made Magnus a little jittery not knowing what he was getting into.

“Fine, be mean.” Alec smiled again and pressed a kiss to his cheek and Magnus tried to keep his grumpy facade up but well, it crumbled against the power of his boyfriend’s attentions.

\----

Just because he knew what he was looking for didn’t make it any less surprising when Alec would hand him one of his gifts however, Magnus was still kind of reeling over the concealed dagger in one of his boots, but he now had the context for it to feel comforting and soothing, instead of mildly bewildering.

He also wanted to find something to gift Alec in return, his boyfriend may have told him it wasn’t necessary, but Magnus was hardly going let the opportunity pass him by, not that he’d had the first clue of what to offer.

He’d half-considered trying for something a-typically Shadowhuntery, but given his knowledge of what made good evisceration tools ended with _sharp things hurt_ he figured he’d be better off trying something else. He didn’t think Alec would overly care for a studded work-jacket either.

So he’d trawled through a few options, summoning up this and that, often discarding them too as nothing had felt right.

He did have one idea that he was considering when his phone went off at the end of a late-night meeting with a Seelie client, a message from Clary letting him know he should get back to the Institute sooner rather than later. While Alec didn’t go out into the field as often these days, and if he did Magnus often tagged along, sometimes it was necessary, he only hoped nothing was amiss and he quickly made his goodbyes before heading off.

Magnus portaled to the Institute within moments, almost stalking towards his boyfriend’s office when he saw Alec from down the hallway, his height making him easy to spot over the flitting heads of other Shadowhunters walking the halls. He didn’t even need to call out before Alec caught sight of him, a gentle smile spreading across his face as he moved down the hall, stopping a breath away and pressing a warm kiss into his cheek.

“Hey.” Alec greeted, and when he pulled back Magnus noted at the splatters of blood across Alec’s face and clothes with some surprise.

“Did everything go okay?” He asked, only a little worried as Alec was clearly fine and well before him, the tension in his body abated as Alec nodded.

“Yeah, the demons we fought were just a little more… gushy than normal.” Magnus pulled a face at that, half-glad he’d missed this particular venture as he didn’t relish the idea of getting that much demon-blood out of his clothes, even with magic.

He still did a quick once-over with his magic nonetheless, just making doubly sure that Alec hadn’t somehow sustained an internal injury without realising, looking up when he was done and noting the pleased grin on his boyfriend’s face, the one that normally preceded Alec’s various courting gifts.

He didn’t even have time to ask before Alec pulled two vials from a pocket and handed them to him. “Here.” He said, watching him with anticipation as Magnus took the vials from him. Magnus frowned slightly and held the vials up to the light, the liquid inside thick, very goopy, and a particularly dark, almost black red that Magnus would know anywhere.

“Is this?-”

“Fresh demon blood? Yup.” Alec’s grin only got wider, nearing into shit-eating but Magnus would let him have this, demon-blood was notoriously difficult to acquire for obvious reasons. “Well almost fresh, but I’ve been reassured that it doesn’t loose it’s potency for at least an hour once harvested.” He added and Magnus nodded, twisting his fingers to cast a strong and quick preservation spell to keep it from spoiling.

“Thank you Alexander.” Magnus placed a hand on Alec’s chest and smiled up at him, closing his eyes as Alec leaned down and gently pressed their lips together, and Magnus could feel his heart flip at the fact that Alec was doing this openly in the Institute, where everyone could see.

He kept his eyes closed for a moment after, opening them slowly and regarding Alec with a gentle smile as he scanned the blood and small bits of demon-scales on his clothing. He really needed to get Alec into the shower when they got home.

He tapped the fingers against his boyfriend’s chest for a moment, opening his mouth once before going for it. “I have something for you.” Alec blinked at that, seeming surprised but not at all displeased as he watched Magnus curiously.

Magnus carefully tucked away the vials into one of his coat pockets. “Warlock’s don’t really have customs like yours.” He started. “We tend to veer onto the individualistic side, rooting ourselves in our home cultures rather than having shared rituals, outside of spells of course.” Alec nodded at that, he knew some of this, through his early education and from what Magnus had explained during their time together.

Magnus swallowed a little but continued. “So while I don’t have something with the same meaning to offer.” Magnus raised one hand between them, twisting his fingers a little. “I do have something from my roots.” Blue sparks danced between his digits and within a second a small, golden coin lay in his palm, the edges flat and soft, a square hole cut in the middle and small raised pictograms moulded onto the surface.

He held it tentatively out to Alec, his breath stuck in his throat as his boyfriend looked down at it. A swift sigh left him when Alec picked it up, holding it between his fingers as he studied it in the hallway lights.

“What is it?” He asked, flipping the coin over to see the other side.

“A Gobog Wayang, an Indonesian charm to protect the holder from misfortune.” Alec smiled wryly at that but looked no less pleased.

“Should I keep it on myself or put it somewhere?” And Magnus had to tamp down the ridiculous smile threatening to overtake his face, because _of course_ Alec would accept this without hesitation.

“You can keep it on you.” He replied, already looking to see where he might be able to magic it into Alec’s jacket. Alec beat him to it however by dropping the coin into his inner pocket and zipping it up. “I’ll affix that more permanently later if you like?” Magnus offered and Alec nodded.

“You should probably summon more too.” Alec said conversely as he put one arm behind Magnus and steered them both towards the doors. “One for each jacket right?” He added and Magnus felt his face spit into a wide, adoring smile.

\----

As time went on the frequency of the gifts levelled out somewhat, Alec’s need to catch up smoothing out until there was a steady, reliable predictability to Alec’s gifts. It wasn’t too unlike actual long-term love, Magnus had realised, steady and reassuring in it’s certainly, and it never failed to make his heart warm in his chest.

He could count on coming home on certain days and seeing Alec waiting with something lovingly picked out to remind Magnus of the commitment and promise he’d made, even if it often came with sharp, pointy edges.

Sometimes they were smaller more intimate things: a tome of potions reacquired from the Alicante Clave library, notebooks with privacy wards woven into the leather, and on the first anniversary of their marriage a small, unremarkable vial that held something so overwhelming Magnus hadn’t been able to look at it for weeks. Hadn’t been able to trust that the contents were true, were what Alec was promising him.

Six months after that gift Magnus had been able to summon up the courage to ask Alec to make his choice, to make Alec’s steadfast refusal to _ever_ leave him permanent. Magnus still had to pinch himself sometimes over that one, to believe it was true and he would get to keep Alec forever.

Needless to say there was no topping that gift.

But it didn’t make the others less meaningful or special and Magnus still happily accepted every one with a level of excitement that seemed to endlessly please his husband.

This was apparent now as Alec sat beside him on the couch, regarding him with a gentle smile as he pushed a small flat box into Magnus’ hands. This was their second anniversary, which was a little less hectic and busy then their first as they’d both settled into their lives in Alicante, and as such could carve out time together for important events. Or just because they wanted to.

Magnus felt the familiar warmth in his chest as he took the offered gift, his gaze running over the box curiously as he tried to guess what was in it. Jewellery most likely given it’s shape, but perhaps it was tickets to some show or play Magnus had mentioned he’d like to see out of hand. He doubted it though given Alec’s pleased grin and the fact that Magnus often snapped in tickets himself. He didn’t believe in lines, physical or digital.

Wasting no time he pulled off the cardboard top, placing it beside him on the couch as he let his eyes fall to item inside and his breath caught: there nestled carefully in black fabric was a simple arrowhead necklace, a rune drawn bold and prominent on the middle of the pendant.

_Love._

Magnus swallowed, traced a hand over the necklace with gentle fingers and looked up at Alec, the proud grin having settled into a warm smile, Alec’s eyes glinting with so much adoration Magnus had to look away.

“Do you like it?” Alec asked and Magnus almost laughed.

“You have to ask?” If his voice was a little wobbly well, neither of them would say anything. Alec shifted closer and lightly poked at the chain.

“I wasn’t sure if the actual necklace part would suit your preferences, but that can be changed if it’s not.” He added conversely and Magnus grabbed at Alec’s hand, giving it a squeeze before looking back down at his gift.

“It’s perfect as it is.” Magnus settled the box in his lap and carefully tugged the necklace out of it’s confines, holding it up to inspect it in the early afternoon light. The chain was thick as he preferred, the arrowhead large enough to catch the eye, but not so large as to be ungainly, and the Love rune etched onto the surface stood out bold and strong against the silver, plain for all to see.

Magnus rubbed a thumb across the pendant, smiling to himself before he looked back up at Alec and held out the necklace. “Put it on for me?” He asked, grinning when Alec took it and prodded at Magnus to turn around.

He did so with no hesitation, trying not to fidget in place when he felt the heat of Alec against his back, warm arms moving around him as the cold metal of the pendant kissed the bare skin exposed by his loosely tied robe, Magnus drew in a breath as it was pulled up and settled just under his collarbone, Alec’s fingers skirting against the back of his neck as he closed the clasps and Magnus let out a hum when soft lips pressed just above where his hands had been.

They lingered in place for a moment, neither of them wanting to break the gentle calm surrounding them but eventually Magnus turned back around, one hand moving up to stroke Alec’s cheek as his husband looked down at the necklace, pride shining from his face.

“It looks good on you.” Alec spoke softly, like he was talking to himself and Magnus preened, settling further against Alec’s side as his husband draped an arm around him.

“I’m surprised you haven’t run out of gifts.” Magnus commented offhandedly, one hand smoothing out his robe on his legs, while the other lightly toyed with the necklace.

“They’re kind of a lifetime thing.” Alec said and the weight of that, the finality of it settled into Magnus’ bones and he couldn’t stop the happy smile spreading across his face, he didn’t want to. “Besides.” Alec added. “If I do run out I’ll just come up with more.”

“What you’ll court me for eternity?” Magnus quipped, turning his head to look at Alec.

“Of course.” Alec stated, like it was an obvious fact and Magnus leaned in, pressing a kiss against his husband’s cheek.

He couldn't wait.

**Author's Note:**

> I edit my own stuff as best I can but if you see any glaring typos or errors please let me know. :)
> 
> Note: I am not Indonesian so my knowledge of the charm I’ve used has come from googling/Wikipiedia, so if it’s horribly inaccurate and there’s something else that would be more applicable/appropriate instead please let me know and I’ll change it ASAP.


End file.
